By recognizing forced marriage as a separate crime, we can ensure that its distinct harms are recognized and
met with consistent legal responses.
Forced marriage inflicts two unique harms:
1. the violation of relational autonomy, stripping victims of their agency to choose their spouse, and
2. forced imposition of gendered social roles, as victims are subjected to socially-constructed ‘spousal’
duties – often including sexual exclusivity, domestic labor, reproduction, and child rearing – under
coercive conditions.
